1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus which includes a main body and a media conveyance unit attached to the main body.
2. Description of Related Art
In an image forming apparatus capable of duplex printing, the image forming unit performs printing on a first side of a medium (a sheet of paper); thereafter, the media conveyance unit for duplex printing (the media conveyance unit) reverses the medium and conveys it to the image forming unit again; and the image forming unit performs printing on a second side of the medium.
The media conveyance unit for duplex printing reverses the medium by a “switchback operation” in which the medium having printing performed on one side is temporarily retreated into a retreat path by rotating the conveyance rollers, and thereafter is ejected from the retreat path by reversely rotating the conveyance rollers (see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-102173, FIG. 6, for example).
Nevertheless, conventional image forming apparatuses tend to become bulky because of their retreat paths.
An object of an embodiment of the invention is to make an image forming apparatus smaller in size.